Griswold Airport was a public
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
located three
nautical miles
A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today t ...
(6 km) east of the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, a town in
New Haven County, Connecticut
New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New ...
, United States. It was privately owned by Griswold Airport, Inc.
The airport has been closed since the beginning of 2007.
History
Griswold Airport opened in 1931, located between Route 1 and the
Hammonasset River
The Hammonasset River is formed about southeast of Durham, Connecticut along a gully on the north end of Bunker Hill at about a half mile northeast of the junction of Route 148 and Bunker Hill Road. The river travels for U.S. Geological Survey. ...
, and adjacent to
Hammonasset State Park
Hammonasset Beach State Park is a public recreation area occupying two miles of beach front on Long Island Sound in the town of Madison, Connecticut. It is the state's largest shoreline park and one of the most popular attractions in the state, ...
.
In 1969, the Town of Madison paid to pave runway 6/24, in return for the owner's promise to maintain the property as an airport. The Madison Aviation Commission was formed at that time to oversee the town's interest in the property.
Shoreline Aviation
Shoreline Aviation was a Part 135 charter air carrier based at the Tweed New Haven Airport in New Haven, Connecticut. It operated a fleet of ten Cessna 208 Caravan turboprop seaplanes. Shoreline operated on-demand air charter year-round in the no ...
was founded here in 1980, operating landplanes at first. They added floatplane operations the following year.
In 1985, the Griswold family offered to sell the airport to the town of Madison. In November 2000, Leyland Development Corporation obtained an option to purchase the land, and submitted plans for a 260-unit
housing development
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States ...
, which was approved by the towns' Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC). A lawsuit against the town to stop the development failed, but local opposition was so strong that Leyland withdrew its original proposal. In the fall of 2003, the developer (renamed LeylandAlliance), submitted a revised proposal to build 131 units. In May 2004, the new proposal was approved by the PZC. LeylandAlliance completed the purchase in February 2007.
In January 2010, residents of the Town of Madison voted to buy 42-acre former airport property from the developer. Assisted by the
Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...
, the town completed the purchase in May 2010 and in 2011 signed a conservation easement to permanently protect 20.6 acres of the land from development.
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]
Facilities and aircraft
Griswold Airport covered an area of . It contained one
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
paved
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
designated 6/24 which measured 1,863 by 50 feet (568 x 15 m).
There was also a turf runway designated 4/22, about 1,150 by 50 feet (350 x 15 m); and a seaplane ramp between the river and the northeast corner of the airport.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2005, the airport had 3,000
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
aircraft operations, an average of 57 per week.
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
Aeronautical chartat SkyVector
{{Authority control
1931 establishments in Connecticut
2007 disestablishments in Connecticut
Airports established in 1931
Airports disestablished in 2007
Airports in New Haven County, Connecticut
Defunct airports in Connecticut
Madison, Connecticut